Men Who Built America

Carnegie, Rockefeller, Morgan, Vanderbilt, & Ford

VanderbiltKnown as the Commodore, for his massive role in

the railroad industry

Starting off as a steamboat industry man, he switched from river boats to ocean going vessels

When the California Gold Rush hit, Vanderbilt turned his attention to the railroads

He quickly started buying as many railroads as possible to control the industry

He eventually purchased most all lines that led to New York City, the mecca of commerce

VanderbiltIn competition with the Erie railroad, Vanderbilt

found himself trying to buy all the stock so he could become the majority owner, however, Jay Gould and James Frisk had other ideas

In order to make money they “watered down” the stocks by issuing more stocks than legally allowed

He would also find shipping opportunities with Rockefeller who was starting to produce refined oil, kerosene, a very common oil for lamps

RockefellerCo-Founder of Standard Oil

Started out as a small time oil refiner creating roughly 30 barrels today but things were about to change

After striking a deal to ship with Vanderbilt, to ship 60 barrels a day, which he currently could not do, Rockefeller found investors to buy into his company to make it bigger

Rockefeller who was a devote religious man who believed God would guide the way

RockefellerHe would continue to buy up oil refiners until he owned

roughly 90% of all oil in the United States

Rockefeller would constantly tangle with railroad tycoons over price and shipping

Eventually Rockefeller would take matters into his own hands and cut out the railroads altogether and create a pipeline to transport his oil

Rockefeller was a bigger believer in Social Darwinism

In 1911 Standard Oil would be found in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act which stated that monopolies like Rockefellers were illegal, the business would be broken down into 34 companies

CarnegieCarnegie started out as a telegrapher who had

various investments some of those in railroads

While working his way he would work for the railroads but eventually left the railroads for prospects in steel

Around 1885 he started Carnegie Steel Company, where he worked to make steel cheaper and mass produce it

He used an adaptation of the Bessemer process to make his steel

CarnegieIn order to show the public the strength of steel

his invested heavily in Eads bridge in St. Louis

While the people were still skeptical he chose one stunt to prove them wrong

In 1901 Carnegie was looking to retire and he would sell his company to J.P. Morgan for $480 Million or $13.6 Billion today

Carnegie would maintain another $225 Million in what was now called US Steel Corporation

MorganMorgan started in the banking industry for his fathers

company in 1857

Later moving to the United States he made a great deal of money during the Civil War by buying defective rifles at $3.50 each and reselling them for $22

A great deal of his money came from buying failing businesses and reorganizing them so they became profitable

In 1900 Morgan set his eyes on the steel industry and Carnegie Steel Company

MorganMorgan bought Carnegie Steel and a number of other

companies, including railroad, coal and other businesses

With Morgan running US Steel, they began to look outside the United States to compete on a global level

With the mass of Morgans companies he became readily recognized as a monopoly

Because US Steel was not unionized it came under heavy attack from Unions they would eventually Unionize in the 1930s